The present disclosure relates generally to a cruise control warning system and in particular, to a method of warning a driver of a vehicle being operated with cruise control activated when there is a possibility of a slippery road condition.
Many vehicles currently being manufactured contain cruise control systems. Cruise control systems control a vehicle cruising speed to maintain a desired cruising speed of a vehicle. The cruise control systems are operatively connected to the vehicle throttle and operate the throttle automatically in order to maintain the desired cruising speed of the vehicle. A newer generation of cruise control is adaptive cruise control that automatically adjusts vehicle speed to maintain a driver-selected distance from the vehicle ahead in the same lane. The adaptive cruise control system can slow the vehicle down when slow moving traffic is encountered and then can return the vehicle to a set speed when the traffic clears. An adaptive cruise control system uses forward-looking radar (to sense traffic ahead), as well as yaw and steering data to determine which targets are in the predicted path of the vehicle.
It is well known that cruise control systems should not be used, or activated, in certain driving conditions, including heavy traffic, winding roads and slippery roads. Winding roads and heavy traffic driving conditions may promote the use of brakes, which in turn will automatically cut off most cruise control systems. Slippery roads can be caused by road conditions such as snow, ice, slush and rain, and may result in a fast change in tire traction on a vehicle. These slippery road conditions can cause low road traction situations to which a driver must react quickly. Although cruise control can manually be cut off by the driver tapping the brake pedal, the driver must first recognize that these slippery road conditions exist and/or that the vehicle has begun to spin or slide, and then the driver must bring his foot up off the floor to the brake pedal to disengage the cruise control. It may be advantageous to either eliminate the ability to use cruise control or to warn the driver about slippery road conditions while using cruise control under a set of certain predetermined vehicle, weather, and road conditions.